Read
about the naming system, birth place in
Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering
site in Florida and leg-band codes.

Personality
and History

Personality
Characteristics: Wimpy and small and often cries to
the puppet. "Follows and begs right next to you, nonstop." Clingy.
This bird loves to investigate and peck at the aircraft and
will not leave it alone. Often appears as if he plans on jumping
in the pilot's seat. VERY curious! 6/23: Handlers watched him
find a garter snake, then shake it until it was dead. Crane
#311 then swiped the snake and swallowed it whole! Wasn't yet
a strong flyer at beginning of August. Reminds Brian of Crane
#9 from the 2002
flock.First Migration South: Flew all but 33.1 miles History: Last of the 2003 chicks to attain
adult voice.
Spring 2004: Left Chassahowitzka together with the other 7 remaining
chicks on April 7 at 9:10 a.m. They flew until rain stopped them, landing in
Jefferson Cty., FL at 3:35 where they roosted that night. Took off April 8
in the group of 8 but a thunderstorm separated the cranes into 3 groups. Cranes
#307, #302 and #311 --each now traveling solo--were located by radio signals
April 9 in Georgia after each gained about another 100 miles. On April 10,
#307 left the roost in Henry County, Georgia, at 9:29a.m. and was not tracked
for several days. On April 16, several visual sightings of #307 in flight were
made. On June 2 he arrived at Necedah NWR, HOME to roost!

Fall 2004: He departed Necedah NWR on migration,
and guided the now-feathered youngster #418 along
with him! The two landed to roost in west-central Indiana the
first day out. Unfortunately, #307 took off again and flew about
60 miles farther, leaving untrained #418 behind. On Nov. 10,
#307 roosted just shy of the southeast coast of Georgia in McIntosh
County. He was found in Chatham County, Georgia, on Nov. 14-15th.
By Nov. 17th, he had moved to Beaufort County, South Carolina.
He remained in marsh and a harvested cornfields in southeast
South Carolina, just north of the Georgia State line, through
at least Feb. 7, 2005. Spring 2005: On April 4 he spent time in Monroe
County, WI and completed migration to Necedah NWR that evening.
Later in the week he moved to an area south of Necedah NWR where
he spent time in 2004, but returned to Necedah NWR in April.
He apparently joined #303 (nonfunctional transmitter) on 17 April
and both birds were later found near Paul J. Olson SWA, Portage
and Wood Counties, where they stayed for several days. He was
last seen August 4 on Necedah NWR with #402, 403, 412, 416 and
417. (He cannot be tracked because his transmitter no longer
works.) He was seen often in summer and fall on Necedah NWR.

Fall
2005: Began migration November 17. Arrived at Jasper-Pulaski
SWA, northwestern Indiana, in late afternoon. He was next reported
on Nov. 29, alone in Jackson County, Alabama. He was still
there in mid December. He did not reappear on his previous
wintering site in Beaufort County, South Carolina.

Spring
2006: Has not been detected since Dec. 2 in Alabama. Arrived
safely in WI.

Fall
2006: Began
migration from Wisconsin's Necedah NWR on 9 November 9 along
with #510, #511, #512 and #519. They made it to northern Illinois
that
night. No further reports until
January 2, when they were found in Levy County, FL!

Spring
2007: Departed Alachua County, FL on March 8. Back on
the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin by March
12! Seen
on March 26 unison
calling and doing territorial behavior with #102. By April
5 he and W1-06 remained together and were no longer hanging out
with
several other whooping cranes there.

Fall
2007: Began migration from Wisconsin on November 21
along with 402, 412, 511, 514, and W601 (the flock's only wild-hatched
chick
so far). Last recorded with 402, 412, 511, 514 and
W601 at a migration stop in northeastern Georgia on 30 November
30. He had separated from all of these cranes by Dec. 10 and
wasn't recorded again until March in Minnesota (see below).

Male
#307 trying to dance with W601. Photo
Sara Zimorski

Spring
2008: Male #307 (with #512) was confirmed back in Wisconsin
at Necedah NWR on March 23. Before that, he and #512 were reported
together
in
Houston County, Minnesota, on March 14 and 15! Both birds may
have wintered together at an undetermined location in Florida. In
early April, Sara Zimorski said, "We were excited to see
307 and female W601 hanging out together and hope they may become
a pair." It did happen, but it didn't last, and #307 actually displaced
#101 from his long-held territory on the refuge.

Fall
2008: Left Wisconsin on Nov. 17 in a large group of whooping
cranes and migrated successfully to Alachua County, Florida by Dec.
31. His unofficial mate, female
#721, migrated with him, but she was found dead
in Putnam County, Florida on January 3, 2009. When #307 was no longer
in the same location as
#721, trackers began to suspect
something was wrong. Eva
Szyszkoski said that
data from outside
observers indicates that
#307 may have stuck around
for
a few
days after
#721's death, and then moved
west to Alachua County, Florida,
where he was
with #511,
512, 514, 716, 724, 408,
519, 10-08 (formerly 810) and DAR 37-08.

Spring
2009: Cranes #307, 408, and 514 began migration from Alachua
County, Florida, on March 5 or 6. Reported in Greene County, Indiana
during March 9-15. He was reported back at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin
by March 19. Sara Zimorski reports, "Apparently #307 has been
trying (and may have succeeded) to steal W601 away from #310.
Last year #307 and W601 were hanging out together before #310 came
along so we'll
see
what happens." It didn't last, but male #307 paired up with female #726
and remained in the core area all summer. The new pair staked
out
the pen site of one
of
the ultralight
chick cohorts as their
territory. They were
very aggressive about it,
especially at evening
roost-check time.

Fall
2009:By
December 7, all but 11 Whooping Cranes were gone from the new Eastern
flock's summer home in Wisconsin. Those
11 included pair #307 and 726, two single males
(#506 and #713) and seven of this year's nine DAR chicks. They
surprised experts when they chose to begin migration on a very
snowy December 11, after being content to
roost on ice and standing in the brisk winter wind for the previous
week.That
day they reached Winnebago County, Illinois! The birds had moved
on by the time trackers got there the next day. Eva said, "When
we finally got a reading, we were all surprised to see that they
had flown east of Indianapolis, Indiana, 240 miles southeast of
their last location and right on track with the main migration
route for Sandhill Cranes. I arrived at the location and heard
all 11 signals coming from the same area. But I could not see
them since it was dark outside." The next morning they made
a couple of local movements before traveling only 50 miles to
the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, near the Indiana/Kentucky
Border. In the first three days of migration,
which was the first-ever migration for the seven chicks, they
flew a total of 430 miles! Pair 307 and 726 safely reached their
winter home in Alachua County, Florida.

Photos
Eva SzyszKoski, ICF

Spring
2010: Present (with #726) at Alachua County, Fl area on
February 28 but no longer there by March 4. They
were reported back on Necedah NWR by March 22.

Fall
2010: Pair #307 and #726 apparently began migration from Necedah
NWR on November 23. They were next found during
an
aerial survey on 13 December 13 on their previous wintering territory
in Alachua County, Florida.

Spring
2011: Pair #307 and #726 (7-03/26-07) were on their winter
territory when checked on March 1, but they apparently began
migration on/by March 8. They had arrived at their territory on Necedah
NWR by March 25. These first-time nesters were incubating on April
10 but their first nest failed on May 4.

Sad
news came in July: The carcass of male #307 was discovered and collected
from his summering territory on Necedah NWR on July 21.